Want the latest on the Seahawks? Intrepid beat reporter Bob Condotta is here to answer all of your questions about the Hawks, the NFL and how many hoodies he owns. Get your questions in now, and he'll join you at noon to answer.
Whew. It’s been a wild couple of days so far, huh?
The Seahawks prevailed in the game of the year over the Texans on Sunday, and followed it up with a blockbuster trade Monday for three-time Pro Bowl left tackle Duane Brown.
Want the latest on the Seahawks? Intrepid beat reporter Bob Condotta answered all of your questions about the Hawks in a live chat Tuesday. Here are the highlights:
Q: Duane Brown, rusty from lack of playing or fresh?
A: The good news there is the Seahawks got the most up-close look at him you could get. Usually you’re bringing guys in for tryouts and not able to do any actual football stuff. They denied Sunday mattered much but it had to have mattered some that they saw him and saw he could play a full game and all that. But it’s a fair point that he’s 32 and hasn’t played much in a year.
Q: How much of an upgrade is Duane Brown at LT?
A:Â At least in experience alone it’s a huge one. He’s played a lot, done a lot. And while 32 is beginning to get up there, there’s no reason to think yet that he’s lost anything. Odhiambo was learning on the job. They don’t have that issue anymore.
Q: Well what do you think Bob, good trade for Brown?
A: I think it’s a good one. Worth the shot anyway. Lane wasn’t going to be back in 2018 — that had become clear. Seattle does so much finagling of draft picks. I imagine they are already envisioning ways to trade down and get that one back. It hasn’t been thought there’s much coming in the next few drafts from an OL standpoint anyway so a trade or FA signing was going to be the only way to really upgrade things. Given the win-now nature of this team I think it was a good move.
Q: So which lineman will get cut to make room for Brown? Also … what does the future hold for George Fant? may be the right side now, replacing an ineffective Ifedi?
A: Glowinski? Roos? I think they really like Battle, but maybe now that they have a veteran LT they don’t need him. But figure it has to be one of those three.
Q: I am ALMOST as happy about getting out of the Lane contract than I am having Brown. Combine the two benefits and it’s an amazing steal for JS and PC. Agree?
A: I’d hesitate to go quite that far until we see how Brown does. But on the surface they didn’t give up as much as I might have thought they’d have to. But I think that also speaks to the fact that Houston was resigned at this point to the idea Brown was gone after this season. So to them, they got a player and two picks for giving up the last 9 games of Duane Brown’s career with them.
Q: What would it take to resign Paul Richardson? Could they do it before the season ends?
I don’t think they’d fill the need to do that now and his contract isn’t one where it would really help them to do that now. I think maybe something along the lines of what Jermaine Kearse got two years ago might do it.
Q: Thoughts on 49ers trade for a QB?
A: Made a lot of sense to take a shot on a young guy to try to groom. Also seems somewhat of an acknowledgement of the struggles of guys like Darnold and Rosen this season and that they weren’t necessarily counting on those guys to be the answer. But if nothing else they also get the rest of this season to see what they have in Jimmy G. and then move on accordingly in the offseason.
Q: Do you think Malik (McDowell) plays at all this year?
A: If I had to bet my house I’d say no. Obviously just 9 games left and he’s never had an actual NFL practice so he’d need some time. But who knows? Maybe he could acclimate quickly and get back for the last few weeks or something.
Q: Does someone pay Jimmy Graham big $$$ this off-season? Seems like he will be disappointed, I just can’t see a team paying him 10+ million a year, do you?
A: I’m always surprised how much more guys usually get on the open market than I expect. But he turns 31 next month so that will be a factor, no doubt. My hunch is he will probably want to see what’s out there.
Q: To me Pete Carroll’s age is starting to show. Who would you predict is an incumbent if he does not receive a contract extension?
A: I’ll let him know. I think he’s going to coach another 3-4 years so I have no idea who would be next in line at that point.
Q: How does the Chancellor extension look now? Is he at fault for the big plays defense is giving up?
Worth remembering that the way it’s structured the Seahawks could easily get out of it anytime after the 2018 season. Earl took the blame for the first long pass Sunday, and the last one seemed a pretty group effort breakdown. Chancellor has played really well against the run this year.
Q: Do you think they will stick to a 50/50 running back split, 33/33/33? Or do you think they favor one back over another?
A: The minute any of the RBs starts to run well they are going to go with that guy. There is no preference at this point in terms of who or percentage of carries or anything. They just want to find someone who can do it.
Q: On cutting Lacy, I am asking about the additional cost to bring in an effective player in lieu of Lacy whose money is already guaranteed toward the cap.
A: Not sure there’s anybody to get. If you’re asking about Davis, the financial part of that equation seems so minimal that I don’t think that’s a real factor in the decision. If they really get to the point they think Lacy can’t help them then they’d just take the hit, the way they did with Williams in 2015 and Webb last year. But Carroll I thought was pretty clear yesterday that he didn’t think the backs were the issue Sunday.
Q: What do you expect from Dion Jordan this year?
A: I think he’ll be active in a week or two and then we’ll see. He hasn’t played a down since 2014 so I don’t know how anyone can have a realistic expectation for what he can do. He’s on a minimum deal so team felt it was worth a shot. So that’s what they’ll do — they’ll throw him out there and see what happens.
Catch the full highlights here: